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The vulnerability of the (current) Western European culture, dr. H. Dubbelman
Introduction
Culture is the values and norms that people in a society share with each other. The concept of cultural disadvantage appears when existing culture is forced to adapt or assimilate through (cultural) change (Mok and de Jager, April 2014). Acting in a society is therefore anchored in culture. The culture is influenced by social forces. These are religions (Christianity, Islam, etc) and political ideologies (liberal, socialist, etc).
Examples of possible consequences of this are:
Europe is crumbling into a continent of division. Everything that is of value will be taken away. 1. The culture is degenerating (E.J. Bron, April 30, 2018). 2. The current political climate in the Netherlands. (The fragmented society, prof. Dr. J. Berting, 2006). 3. I don't think our culture will disappear, I think we are slowly merging into another culture, in which we really don't know what was left of 'us'. (https://twitter.com/SBergsma Feb. 19, 2016). A melting pot culture is created.
We limit ourselves to the influence of religion as a culture on society.
Question: Can the causes of the vulnerability be identified?
Let's look at some comments.
1. Thierry Baudet (2019). He calls the Roman goddess Minerva. She was the goddess of reason and wisdom. The symbol of wisdom is the owl. It also protected cities and the state. Baudet sees this symbol as the culture for the survival of Western civilization. If this culture is affected, then sooner or later Europe will run into problems.
2. Shockingly current in the book "The fall of the Evening Land", published in 1918 and 1922, the historian Oswald Spengler sketches a panorama of European history. He shows how cultures rise and fall. This is a process that is comparable to the coming and going of the seasons. Based on an analysis of eight major cultures, Spengler develops a method that enables him to interpret the present as a time of cultural decline and to make predictions about the future of our western civilization. Oswald Spengler regarded a culture as a "Lebewesen" (the essence of life) with its own birth, growth and the development of rise and fall. In the Middle Ages this was called 'Lebewesen' after patron saints or angels who can protect certain people or a specific culture. In ancient times these beings were honored as sons of gods and as the highest representative of a culture. They were considered a divine incarnation or at least an intermediary between that culture and those celestial beings (Dr. F. de Graaff, European Nihilism and Anno 1000-Anno 2000, 1976).
3. M. van der Dussen in Aristotle, 1979. Philosophy is the love for wisdom. Philosophy originated in the time when the gods or angels withdrew from the sight of people (revelation). They are spiritual beings who guide humanity and the world order.
4. F. de Graaff in European nihilism, 1956 comes to a similar conclusion. Why is the culture that lives from holy powers being abandoned? He believes that the gods withdraw from the accessibility of people. They lose their revelation. An example is the goddess of wisdom Athens (Greek) and Minerva (Roman). She is later presented as the owl. When the gods no longer reveal themselves, human thinking emerges as a surrogate or dark forces take their place. There will then be a restriction of reality.
5. F. de Graaf in Anno Domini-1000-Anno Domini-2000, 1976. This book shows a connection of historical facts and an above historical reality. De Graaff states that around 1000-1500 the angel power over Western Christianity withdrew. The Christian culture then encountered major problems. Secularization, Islam etc. expel the Christian culture in our time. Christianity is weakening. Dark forces take the place in the spiritual realm. Western Europe is increasingly releasing itself from God. Christianity has become a minority. Sooner or later society will suffer the consequences.
6. What can be explained from Judaism? When a people sin, their angel connected with God weakens (Moshe Chaim Luzzatto, The Way to God, 1998). Then it becomes possible that God exercises His Providence (judgment) over them for the sake of the Jews. Conversely, they receive blessings.
7. Rabbi Spiro (24-3-2019): "I will bless those who bless you and curse you who curse you. And all the families of the earth will bless you through you "(Genesis 12: 3). "You can map the rise and fall of the emires by judging how they treat the Jews," said Rabbi Spiro, "if they are good for us, it is always a great symbiotic relationship; we benefit and the host country will prosper. But if they are bad for us, we suffer and they will suffer”. Rabbi Spiro cited Germany and Spain as examples, both of which flourished due to contributions to their Jewish population. But when they began to suppress the Jews, their economies collapsed. The rabbi's lesson came with a warning.
Conclusion
What are the parallels of the comments above?
If divine revelation disappears and a people become detached from God, then the result is that both secularization and non-Christian (spiritual) powers fill the spiritual vacuum. People now try to explain reality with their own human thinking. Also because of the resulting spiritual emptiness, people become susceptible to wrong powers.
Baudet points out the expulsion of the goddess Minerva as a protector. This goddess has already withdrawn to a large extent. It is still symbolized in the owl as an abstraction. Her strength is waning.
Otto Spengler, Lebewesen is being affected. He foresees the fall of Europe (The Evening Land).
M. van der Dussen and Dr. F. de Graaff point to the withdrawal of the divine powers. F. de Graaff points to the crisis of Christianity. Society is increasingly losing God. He predicts a major crisis in Western Europe around the year 2000. This if the West does not repent. After the year 2000, all kinds of major (cultural) changes occur in Western Europe.
Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzatto states that nations can strengthen or weaken their guardian angel through behavior.
The historian rabbi Spiro mentions fate over the nations in relation to the Jewish people.
An approach to improvement is if Christianity is able to restore / strengthen itself and carry out God's commandments. This requires a correct insight into (current) social processes in relation to Bible study / education. If not, the decline continue.